Press Information Bureau

Government of India
Ministry of Rural Development
19-J anuary-2014 16:00 IST
Centre issues directive for 150 days work under MGNREGA for STs in Forest Areas.
The Ministry of Rural Development has issued a directive to provide 150 days of wage employment under
MGNREGA for Scheduled Tribe households living in forest areas. The move will benefit about Eight lakh
people in the states like J harkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, The additional 50 days of
employment beyond the stipulated 100 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will be applicable to those individuals who got pattas under Forest Rights
Act, FRA( 2006). Approximately, 14 lakh individual and community titles have been distributed under FRA
2006. Of these around 8 lakh individual titles have been given in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, J harkhand
and Orissa. It is these individuals who will be able to claim the benefit of 150 days.
The Ministry of Rural Development thinks that this is an important initiative since a lot of land-levelling,
plantation and other activities are required to be undertaken on these lands to make them more productive.
The additional days through MGNREGA will allow the households to undertake additional work on their
own land. Further, FRA beneficiaries have already been automatically included for assistance under the
Indira Awaas Yojana.
Other initiatives for ensuring effective implementation of MGNREGA in naxal affected areas have also
been taken like a convergence project with National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in 250 most
backward blocks of the country. Several of these ST-dominated blocks are located in Naxal districts. The
Ministry has also allowed for cash payments of wages in 88 Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts. To
proactively register demand, the Ministry has launched Kaam Maango Abhiyan and the project is being
implemented in 6 pilot districts including West Singhbhum in J harkhand and is being upscaled to all naxal
affected areas.
Morever, it has initiated the Governance and Accelerated Livelihood Support project in collaboration with
UNDP in 12 naxal affected districts and they are Latehar, Palamu, Gumla and West Singhbhum in
J harkhand, Malkangiri, Koraput, Nuapada and Kalahandi in Odisha and Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur,
Balrampur in Chhattisgarh. The Project will focus on livelihood assets creation through MGNREGA IN
500 Gram Panchayats in these districts.
Finally, new works have been added to the existing list of permissible works under MGNREGA with a
focus to strengthen synergy between MGNREGA and rural livelihoods, particularly in agriculture. Besides
ensuring durable quality assets, the expansion of MGNREGA works is likely to improve the socio-
economic condition of marginalized section of the society like SC/ST, Small and Marginal farmers, IAY
beneficiaries, Forest Right Act beneficiaries etc as most of the new works are now permitted on the land or
homestead of specified individual beneficiaries.
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